FINANCE
It has been a successful year. Despite the pandemic, the finances for 2020 were only slightly down from 2019. Income for the year was $1,969,627. A total of $1,637,719 was transferred for distributed funds to directors and the cultural fund. Net profit $17,796. Distribution for the year to members was $1,458,431.
We have agreed to have the accounts audited every third year rather than reviewed. There will be an audit next year.
CULTURAL FUND
During the year $50,000 was distributed to the ADG from the Cultural Fund, $5000 to the Directors and Editors of New Zealand and $10,000 to the Motion Picture Benevolent Society.
ACTIVITIES
Deb Jackson, our Executive Director, has done a fine job the last year negotiating the pandemic, managing the staff, increasing the membership, and increasing the number of society partners around the world. I’d like to thank her for these and other developments throughout the year.
Our membership this year has increased to 1310. Our collecting society partners have increased to 37 with 6 more in negotiation. This is excellent when you consider when Deb joined us in 2014 we only had 11 partners.
2020 was marked, of course, by the pandemic. The office staff worked from home for a lot of last year and all board meetings were by Zoom. Somehow it all worked.
The main achievement of the year has been the membership rights assignment, approved by ACCC, to enable us to collect retransmission royalties for directors from Screenrights. This was something Deb has worked hard on and to date over 500 directors have assigned their rights to us. This is a good sign. The assignments will make it easier for directors to get due payments from Screenrights. We have struggled for the last 15 years to get much of the retransmission copyright royalties from Screenrights, despite the government granting directors copyright in retransmission in 2005. Clarity of contracts has been the issue.
We are now assisting directors and their agents in writing their contracts regarding this. If the rights are assigned to ASDACS they cannot be assigned to anyone else (i.e. the producer or company).
Deb Jackson, James Dickinson (CEO Screenrights) director Jub Clerc (on the Screenrights board), Kim Dalton (Chair Screenrights) and I had a meeting in February to discuss the issues and Kim Dalton has been keen to see that directors get what is owed to them and is supportive of the members retransmission assignment.
I also met with Kim Dalton on the issue, and he has promised fair action and established a phone connection between us if we strike problems with our members rights assignment. My hope is there will be no problems.
STAFF
Bella Schulenburg joins ASDACS as Marketing and Membership this year. Jennifer Davis continues as Distribution Officer, Natalie LeComte as Rights Officer and Mel Nall is working remotely as Data Analyst. I thank them all for their work especially through the pandemic.
DONALD CROMBIE AND THE BOARD
I would like to thank the board: Grant Campbell, Pat Fiske, Kevin Lucas, Scott Hartford Davis and Megan Simpson Huberman for their diligence this year.
I especially want to thank Donald Crombie for his work as Treasurer not only this year but for the last eight years. Donald has been Treasurer since 2013 and since then has been a rock in that role, without fanfare or histrionics. He is standing down this year from the board and I, with the board, thank him heartily for his service to ASDACS. He leaves ASDACS with the accounts in good order. We shall miss him. Thank you Donald.
Stephen Wallace (Chair)